Lake Houston levels lowered as Texas flooding turns deadly, triggers statewide emergency response

Houston Public Works lowed water levels at Lake Houston and staged flood-prone road barricades as the city's flood infrastructure responds to a second straight week of heavy rain and a developing tropical system off the Texas coast. The move follows a Bandera County flood death and statewide emergency activations this week.

Mayor John Whitmire ordered the preparedness measures Monday, directing Public Works to draw down Lake Houston, stage barricades at flood-prone locations and ready dump trucks for high-water response, according to Click2Houston. The city's Office of Emergency Management activated the Emergency Operations Center at 8 a.m. Monday to coordinate response and monitor conditions, Whitmire said.

The National Weather Service's Houston/Galveston office issued a flood watch early Wednesday for Montgomery, Harris, Galveston, Fort Bend and surrounding counties through Wednesday evening, citing Potential Tropical Cyclone One as it tracks along the upper Texas coast. Rainfall rates could exceed 4 inches per hour in the heaviest downpours, with widespread totals of 2 to 4 inches and higher amounts possible along the coast, the agency said. Saturated ground from previous days' rain increases the flooding risk.

Separate flood watches remained in effect Wednesday for parts of Louisiana and deep east Texas through Thursday evening, the weather service said.

Potential Tropical Cyclone One was centered about 55 miles southwest of Corpus Christi as of 1 p.m. Tuesday, with maximum sustained winds of 30 mph, moving northeast at 6 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. By 2 a.m. Wednesday, the system had moved to near the middle Texas coast, with a 60 percent chance of becoming a tropical storm within 48 hours.

Forecasters said the system was expected to move parallel to the upper Texas coast Wednesday before tracking inland over eastern Texas or southwestern Louisiana Wednesday night. If it strengthens, it will be named Arthur, the first named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season.

The storms have already proven deadly. A woman drowned in Bandera County Monday after more than 6.4 inches of rain swept her car into a creek near Lower Mason Creek Road, KSAT reported. 

Flash flooding the same day led to water rescues and stranded vehicles on Interstate 35 in Waco, with rescue teams responding to numerous calls involving people trapped by floodwater, the Texas Game Wardens said in a Facebook post.

Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to activate additional state emergency response resources and implement 24-hour operations at the State Operations Center, TDEM said in a news release. Resources made available include Texas A&M Task Force swiftwater rescue squads, Texas National Guard Black Hawk helicopters, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens and boat teams, and DPS helicopters with hoist capability.

Abbott also issued a disaster declaration June 15 covering 101 Texas counties, mostly in central, south and southeast Texas, to give local officials access to state resources.